junkyarddog

I know we all like to talk about thirdgens here,but I thought I'd share some info on another member of the GM family. I did an install on my friends truck (full size,4WD) that i was quite happy with. he didn't want to cut up his interior so we replaced the stock speakers with eclipse 4x6"s and memphis 4x10"s,the fronts sound great...the rears are still a little underpowered but have potential. the dash in this truck was a little odd...there was no DIN or any sort of place to put an aftermarket HU. there was an AM/FM control panel above the climate controls and a cassette player in the middle of the dash panel. the AM/FM piece and the tape player connect some retarded amp unit located under the dash above the brake pedal,I had to remove the ash tray (4 9/32" hex screws) and remove a 5/16" bolt holding the AC delco junk box to the dash bracket,there were also two 9/32" screws holding the bottom bracket in.... it dropped right out and there it was! unpugged the two connectors from the dash units,removed the cassette player and found the standard GM male connector,conveinently it had enough slack on it to make it to the tape bay where the pioneer deck was going. the mounting still needs to be worked on,but that will come in due time,I'll show some pics since I now have photo capabilities.

Chris Luongo

Yeah, the rear speakers in that truck are so small to begin with, and so far from the driver, that there's really not much you can do. In any event, there's rarely a need for high-quality speakers in the rear; your friend might return them and invest the money somewhere else, like toward a subwoofer.

There is a full set of kits available for that dash; I've installed a few. Try www.metra-online.com, or www.scosche.com, or just go to a local stereo store.

There's a small pocket that will replace the AM/FM part of the unit, available aftermarket. Or, you should be able to buy a similar pocket of better quality from the dealer.....order it for a base model pickup truck with no radio.

There is a kit for the middle dash, available in different colors too, and it looks halfway decent. Retails around $20.

junkyarddog

the mounting kit is already in,it was $20 from circuit jerkit we had to swap the vents and the metal hold-down tabs...not a big deal. it was a perfect fit but not a perfect color match (slightly darker charcol grey). the kit looks good though,it took care of all the custom work we had planned,the delco AM/FM unit is staying where it is because my friend and I believe it looks better even if it isn't functional. the memphis 4x10"s sounded great in the stereo shop,mounted on the MDF display wall and hooked to a brand new pioneer deck. we're using a '96 pioneer premier DEH-49 which may not have the same output as a newer radio,plus those speakers aren't only far away,they're aimed downward from the overhead! I really wanted to mount some round 6" pioneer speakers on the sides behind the seats,but my friend didn't want to compromise the original condition of his truck,which I can understand. if anything,we should have got the eclipse 4x10"s to match the fronts because the front speakers are responding very well to th HU's output power. I think he's picking up some used Orion 4ch and 1ch amps with two rockford fosgate punch 12" subs in a ported box. I've had good experiences with ported cabinets,it's the bandpass ones I don't like too much we'll see what hapens...!